[WesMaps Home Page] [Course Search] [Course Search by CID]


COL 286

Medieval Love: Desire in Language
COL 286 FA

Crosslistings: WMST286, FIST237, MDST286

Next Offered in 9899 FA

Love in the Middle Ages was both a private experience and a public contest whose players were Social Status, Religious Obligation and Sexual Desire. We investigate the development of this contest in its classical period by concentrating primarily on the literature of French-speaking countries in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In addition to primary-source readings (in translation), we consider the perspectives of cultural historians such as Marc Bloch and Georges Duby and of poststructuralist critical theorists such as Jacques Lacan and Julia Kristeva.

MAJOR READINGS

Abelard and Heloise, THE LETTERS OF ABELARD
AND HELOISE
Bernard of Clairvaux, ON THE SONG OF SONGS
Guillaume IX, Jaufre Rudel, Bernard de Ventadorn, LYRICS
OF THE MALE TROUBADOURS
Tibors, Countess of Dia, Castelloza, THE WOMEN TROUBADOURS
Chretien de Troyes, ARTHURIAN ROMANCES: LANCELOT
Marie de France, THE LAIS OF MARIE DE FRANCE
Andreas Capellanus, THE ART OF COURTLY LOVE
Gottfried von Strassbourg, TRISTAN

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Thoughtful preparation, dedicated participation in class discussion, two interpretive essays and one creative project.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA COL

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-03-1998




Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions.

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459